Out of the Ordinary Gift Ideas

I like to think outside the box when it comes to buying gifts for other people. Don't get me wrong, I love a good old gift set, but you know when you find a gift for someone that catches your eye and you think, 'wow, that would be perfect for her!' and beam with pride knowing how much they will enjoy it, I love that feeling! I have found a few really great gift ideas I wanted to share with you that I think are really interesting and a little bit out of the ordinary.

The Gourmet Chocolate Pizza Co. Chocolate Pizza

Chocolate...Pizza... a match made in heaven, right?! I think this is a great alternative to a selection box for that chocolate fiend in your life. I tried the flavour Crunchy Munchy*, which was full of biscuit, fudge and scrumptious chocolate swirls. It tasted absolutely delicious. The brand have a huge selection of different flavours, as well as an option to personalize your pizza too. The Gourmet Chocolate Pizza Co also sell chocolate pizza slices in a range of flavours at only £2.20 each, which I think would make great stocking fillers or little gifts for friends. I have already ordered a few of these to pop in to stockings.

Executive Pens Direct Engraved Pen
I don't know about you, but in our house we definitely have a pen fairy that steals all of the pens whenever we need them. I am a bit of a stationery nerd too so I love a nice pen, and I would absolutely love to receive a gift like this beautiful engraved pen . This particular design is called the Parker Urban Fashion Ballpoint Pen* which is pink with a chrome trim. It is such a beautiful item, and is very high quality, too. There are tonnes of other pens at Executive Pens Direct that you can personalise, as well as some useful and novelty gifts, which are all available on their website. I think this is a gift that anyone would appreciate, it looks super sophisticated and is a really special, yet practical and useful gift.

Ellie Bean Prints A4 Print
If you are a bit of a bookworm you may already recognize this quote. I am all about quotes to live by, they really do brighten my day and prints like this one can really personalise a room and make it your own. This print* is from Ellie Bean Prints in A4 size and is really good quality. I plan to fill one of the walls in my room with framed prints of inspirational images and quotes like this one. I think makes a beautiful gift. Ellie Bean Prints have a huge range of other prints and card that you can personalize too.

Friction Free Shaving Subscription Service

Now, you're probably thinking 'Hmm that is odd, why would you include a razor in a gift guide?!' I have a logical explanation. This handy subscription service sends you a high quality razor and razor heads from only £3 per Month. I think this is a brilliant gift idea for someone that maybe has everything, or maybe, if, like me, absolutely hates spending their money on razors 'cause they're so expensive, this would make a great gift. I can vouch too that the razors are really good quality and leave my skin feeling super soft with no irritation whatsoever.How ideal, too, knowing that you don't have to go out and buy a razor for a whole year!

Personalised Tree Decoration

Why not treat someone to a personalized tree decoration? These kind of gifts always go down well with family and friends. It is something they can use every Christmas. I particularly love this cute gingerbread family design. I bought this from a local shopping centre, but you can find similar here or even have a go at making your own.

House of Wonderland Jewellery Club Subscription
A lot of the ladies in my life are big fans of costume jewellery so I know this would make a great gift for them, in fact this is something I would love to receive myself. I love the surprise aspect of subscription boxes, not knowing what you are getting is all part of the fun, and treating someone to this kind of gift as they'll receive a lovely bundle of gifts once a Month. The HOW Jewellery Club Subscription* would make a perfect gift for someone that loves a bit of fun or loves to jazz an outfit up with cute jewellery. The best part about the subscription is that the jewellery you receive is unique and aren't part of the House of Wonderlands current ranges.You could either treat someone to a subscription, or order one yourself and split up the jewellery items and gift them to friends. I will be writing a full review of this Months jewellery in a separate blog post (which will include more images and info) very soon, which I will link here once the post is live.

Laptop Sleeve
Practical and pretty, those are two words I think sum up this next gift very well. This stylish laptop sleeve 'Grace'* from STM Bags is perfect for those on the go. This sleeve has a super soft lining to keep your laptop protected and safe.  It is like a safe fluffy jumper for your laptop! I love the sleek and stylish presentation, and how this can fit easily into a bag, and your laptop being super protected as you go about your day. You can even match your laptop sleeve to your clutch and your handbag as STM stock those in the same design too. This beauty is available from Amazon or Currys online here.

Mickey Mouse Chalk Board
I think this would make a lovely gift for someone special, particularly if they're a big Disney fan! You could even add a sweet message to the board before wrapping it up. I like gifts that are really useful, and I think this would be one of those gifts that you probably wouldn't pick yourself, but actually find it really handy to add notes to, and it just looks adorable, doesn't it!? This costs only £2.50 at Primark.

*Post includes some PR samples*

As always, my post is 100% honest & my own opinion.

Quirky Christmas Cards

I love finding special cards for the people I care about, and my favourite type of cards are cute and fun cards that you don't often find on the high-street. Made With Love Designs sell a range of different handmade Christmas cards that are unlike any others I have seen.

The adorable Fan(tash)tic and Christ(moose) cards are simple and quirky, and would look really cool in a frame for next Christmas. I have a few friends that are Twitter and Instagram mad so I know this #christmascash card is one that will make that social media addict in your life smile.
The Modfather card is brilliant if you know someone that loves their music, you can personalise this card and add a name which always makes a card a lot more special to the recipient. Again this simple yet effective style is one that you won't find on the highstreet and looks like you have made a lot of effort in picking the perfect card.
Have you checked out Made With Love Designs yet?

*PR samples*

Wonderful Things #1

I wanted to begin writing a little series where I share with you some things I am loving at the moment that don't quite fit into a Monthly beauty favourites blog post. In this series, I intend to share some random favourites; that could include absolutely anything - beauty, fashion, food, TV, places - basically, anything that has made me smile. After all, it is all the little things that are wonderful in life.

Pamper evenings
I have to say there is nothing quite like a night in watching a good film and then having a lovely pamper night using all of my favourite beauty products. I have been having regular pamper evenings and I am sure this will continue throughout Autumn and Winter. I have been loving using the Madara Night Cream* on an evening, as well as my new discovery Latherly*- which is a really cool shower gel which lathers LOTS - it smells refreshing and is brilliant if you have sensitive skin because it doesn't contain any nasty chemicals. I have dyed my hair recently so have wanted to keep my colour radiant, so have been reaching for Dove Colour Radiance Treatment Conditioner - it has really helped the appearance of my hair.

Nugget and Mallow
When I headed to Birmingham for the West Midlands Blogger Meet a few Weeks ago, we were given an amazing goody bag to take home with us; which included these uh-mazing sweet mallow treats from the brand Nugget and Mallow*. How awesome is the personalised pinwheel lollipop?!. I also adore an afternoon tea and I think these afternoon tea inspired mini mallows are adorable! I mean, they almost look too pretty to eat! The mallows taste sweet and delicious - yum!

Wearing My Sunglasses
I have never been a huge wearer of sunglasses, but ever since I picked up this pair from Claire's Accessories a couple of Months ago, I have just loved having them in my bag. Although the sun has almost gone and Winter is near, I've still been popping these in my bag. I just love the colour of these and for once, they actually suit me!

My Blogging Mug
I love a good cup or coffee or tea, it is my favourite drink especially at this time of Year and what's better than tapping away at the computer, blogging away than with my very own personalised blogging mug?* Mr Nutcase are a company that sells personalised phone-cases, and have recently widened their range to personalised mugs. I think this mug is brilliant and it is such good quality. I love personalised gifts, and am planning to buy some of these personalised mugs as Christmas gifts for my family this Year. The website is so easy to navigate around and use. To create your mug, you simply add your design or pictures, and then you can choose which size and type of mug you would like. It is super quick and easy and I absolutely love the outcome! The mug looks brilliant - I love it!

*Post includes PR samples*

Gift Cake from Eat Your Photo

I was super excited to feature this gift cake from Eat Your Photo on my blog, I can''t even tell you. I am obsessed with anything personalized and of-course I love cake, so mixing the two is a complete success in my eyes. Of-course, I am Christmas crazy so had to choose a festive theme for my cake. I picked a photograph of me and my Sister about four years ago at Christmas, can you spot the Christmas tree in the background? As you can see, I also chose the balloon frame design and the words 'Happy Christmas from Zoe and Roxy' for the text on the cardboard around the cake. I thought this would make a great cake to have at all the Christmas festive get together's this Month.

I am so impressed with the quality of the photo on the cake! It is pretty much a perfect print of the picture and completely edible too.The cake arrived packaged really well and there was no damage to the cake at all. I am really impressed with the delivery and packaging overall. Something I was not expecting was the height of the cake. It looks like a medium sized cake (16cm square) and quite a compact cake, but it it a really tall cake at 8cm high and weighs 1.4kg. This cake serves up to 18, which is fantastic value for money.
As mentioned above, when ordering your cake you not only are able to upload your own photo, but you can also choose the outer frame design, the text, the text positioning, the flavour, font and font colour, and also of-course your shipping and delivery preferences.

I have to say, the cake tasted amazing! Not only did I love it, but my Dad thinks its delicious and he is not a big sweet tooth so it is pretty amazing for him to say he likes any kind of cake. We chose the chocolate sponge with chocolate butter cream, which tastes absolutely incredible. The icing tastes great but not too sickly sweet, and the chocolate cake tastes great - not too crumbly or dry - the perfect chocolate cake. The butter cream tastes out of this world. Eat Your Photo also sell a gift cake in the flavour vanilla sponge with jam and cream which also sounds like it would taste delicious.

You can purchase your very own gift cake* from Eat Your Photo here.  As well as gift cakes, Eat Your Photo also sell personalized photo's on chocolate and on cupcakes!

*This post includes products I was gifted to review on my blog. All opinions are 100% honest and my own.*

Personalised Message Heart by The Illustration Garden : Fathers Day Gift Idea

Personalised Message Heart by The Illustration Garden 




The Illustration Garden is an online store which sells beautiful and unique illustrations, gifts and decorations made by Gail Yerrill. Gail Yerrill has created illustrations for many children's books, and has worked with the BBC, Harrods and Marks and Spencer's, to name but a few.
The products featured on the Illustration Garden are made to order, and can be personalized to what ever you like, which makes items you purchase unique to only you.

When it comes to home ware, I love shabby chic pieces to decorate my bedroom with. I also think little items like this make perfect gifts, especially when they can be personalised!
I picked out this little personalised wedding message heart from The Illustration Garden as I thought it was adorable, and would look great in any room of the house. Of - course, as it is personalised, I chose the text to be printed on the plaque. I don't know anyone getting married very soon, so decided to make it a little gift to my Dad from me and my Sister. I thought it would make the perfect Fathers Day gift as he loves anything that is personalised - it is a great touch.

I really love the quality of the plaque. It looks perfect hung over a door handle or on a shelf. It arrived packaged really well and in fantastic condition. I would definitely purchase one of these again in the future as I think they make a fantastic gift for anyone.

The Personalised Wedding Message Heart is available on The Illustration Garden website here for only £7.99.*

Beautiful Personalised Posters From Paper Themes

Thanks Dad Poster

by Paper Themes

I recently discovered a fantastic website called Paper Themes. They specialize in Wedding stationary, gifts, and accessories, as well as a lot of personalised products too. 

As it is coming up to Fathers Day, I thought I would show you how beautiful their personalised posters are. 

I opted for this lovely 'Thanks Dad'* poster which I know my Dad will adore. Parents really love personal touches to gifts, as it shows the extra special thought put into them - I am sure anyone in your family would adore something like this to live in their home. 

You can personalise the posters text to whatever you like, making it a very special piece as there would be no other in the World like yours! 

Paper Themes are really helpful, as after payment you email them directly with your personalised information - which means it will be created exactly as you wish. The product comes very well packaged too; in a circular tube with tissue paper covering the poster. Paper Themes take extra care ensuring your product arrives safely to your door.

I think the Personalised Posters make a fantastic gift for a family member or friend, or even a unique touch to add to your own home. The poster can become the focus point in the room, as it is unique and an interesting piece that you know all your visitors will love. The posters would look stunning in a frame, surrounded by family photographs as it would tie it all together.

The poster itself is glossy and has a lovely finish to it, making it look fantastic and sophisticated. The quality of the paper is brilliant and the print on the poster looks exactly as it does on the Paper Themes website.  

I would definitely recommend Paper Themes if you are looking for beautifully made personalised items as they take such extra care to ensure your product is exactly how you want it to be.

Visit Paper Themes website here, where you too can discover many other of their stunning personalised products that would compliment any home.

www.paperthemes.co.uk